The Rebound Pact (21 page)

“Holden’s told me a lot about Ridge stepping on his toes. They even came out with a dessert wine a lot like Bliss,” Max said.

She nodded. “He’s got another trick up his sleeve. A new wine series. It’ll be a signature wine that he hopes to take several awards for next year.”

“How’s he going to have enough time to advertise the bistro
on such short notice?” her father asked.

“He has his own contacts, which he’s already made now that we’re opening up earlier, but I’ve contacted every food critic and reporter I know. We’re going to really make this bistro a hit the first weekend it opens.”

“I can’t wait to see you in action. Hard to believe you and my best friend will be working together.” He looked impressed as he stared at her. “What are the odds?”

Gabrielle threw her hands up, smiled and shrugged. “I have no idea. But I’m really happy it happened. I haven’t been this excited about my work in a long time. I have something to look forward too, and working with Holden’s been great. He
’s an extraordinary guy.”

Max narrowed his eyes and studied her for a moment. She willed her face to quit heating up.

“What?” she said, trying to sound exasperated. There was no way she’d be able to hold up under his scrutiny for long. Nope. Max had her number. He’d always been able to see right through her.

His features softened and he squeezed her shoulder. “I’m happy for you, sis. You deserve a little bit of peace. A job you can enjoy.”

She tried to be subtle in the breath she let out. “Thank you.”

“But you know, Holden is—”

“Off limits,” she finished for him. “I get it. You’ve told me about a thousand times since you got home. Give it a rest! But let me ask you a hypothetical question that you were always too immature to answer before. What if something did happen? What if we really liked each other?”

He rolled his eyes. “Consider me still immature.”

She gave a disgusted grunt. “Whatever.”

He laughed. “Honestly, I don’t know, Gabrielle. I would never want to see you hurt. I’d never want to see him hurt.” He pressed his lips together and frowned a little. “I don’t know. But do I have to know? I mean, that would never happen.”

“Who’s hungry?” their father broke in.

“Me,” both Gabrielle and Max said at the same time. Obviously they were both eager to change the subject.

Holden spent the evening making phone calls, setting up interviews and going over paperwork for the bistro. Things were falling into place, but he had a feeling he was going to be spending
a lot
of late nights at work trying to get everything into order. It was just as well. Gabrielle wanted to spend time with her dad and Max tonight. He’d bet a million bucks Gabrielle wouldn’t be stepping foot into his manor house after hours, not when Max was seeming to figure things out. His friend called and stopped by several times to just check in.

A part of him felt particularly lonely without her around. Knowing that she wouldn’t be back until morning and only because she had to work. They would both be extremely busy for the next two weeks. He doubted they’d even have a chance to speak about anything other than bistro business.
And he liked talking to her. Laughing. Having a good time.

He twirled his cell on his desk, tamping down the urge to dial her number, even if it was just to hear her voice as she instructed him to leave a message after the tone.

He shoved his chair back, stuck his cell in his jeans pocket and walked out into the silent hallway, everyone long gone. He was struck again with that sense of loneliness. There was no one waiting for him at home. No one to ask him how his day was—no one for him to hold, and ask the same things. No one he was rushing home to. Except, he did want to rush home to someone. A particular someone. Gabrielle.

He took out
his cell again, intent on calling her, he’d make up a question about the menu or the freezer equipment.

But he didn’t have to.

His cell buzzed in his hand, and the caller ID flashed
Gabrielle
.

“Hello?” He spoke past the lump in his throat. Was it too much to hope that she missed him as much as he missed her? Goddamn, what was wrong with him? He’d just seen her a few hours ago. He was turning into a complete moron, running solely on hormones and sentiment.

“Hey, Holden. It’s me, Max. We’re going to go out to dinner tonight. Want to come?”

He coughed to cover up the disappointment at not hearing Gabrielle’s voice. “Yeah, man. When and where?”

“Meet us at the Tortoise in fifteen. Gabrielle says they just came out with a veggie burger she can’t wait to devour. I, on the other hand, am looking forward to the colossal bison burger.”

Holden laughed. Brother and sister’s eating habits were completely opposite.
He was kind of excited to be included in their evening plans. Part of him wondered who wanted him there more—Max or Gabrielle? He knew who he was more excited to see… “Sounds great.” But after eating Gabrielle’s food, he knew the Tortoise wouldn’t be able to hold up to her culinary perfection.

He headed out, locking the doors behind him.

“Holden.” The sound of Lacy’s voice made his skin crawl and a sour taste came to his mouth.

Slowly he turned around. Her belly was the size of basketball and was the first thing he zeroed in on. She wore a tight v-neck tank that showed off enormous boobs he didn’t remember her having.
There was no doubt she was pregnant. One could only guess whose baby it was.

He frowned, his rage simmering to the surface.
“What are you doing here?”

“I miss you,” she said with a pout.

“That ship’s sailed, sweetheart.” He tried to walk around her, but her nails dug into his forearm. He pried them off and glared, making sure she knew he didn’t want her around. “What can I do for you? I’m kinda in a hurry.”

She huffed a
breath, the nasty look he knew so well came over her features. “You never had time for me before, either.”

“Good thing
, since it showed what kind of person you are.” Visions of what an idiot he was flashed in his memory. Grabbing flowers on his way home from the airport just so he could see her face light up. Coming home to her sleeping with another man. The crushing pain of knowing she’d betrayed him. The gratification of throwing both her and her lover out of his house.

“Don’t be like that.”
She tried for coy again, but he only became more disgruntled.

“Look, I don’t want to play games. I’ve got somewhere to be.
And it looks like,” he pointed to her belly, “someone is waiting for you, too. What are you doing here?”

Coy was gone and with it the bitch was back.
“I want my share.”

“Share of what?”

“The vineyard.”

Gritting his teeth and keeping from shaking her, he said,
“You don’t have any claim to a share here.”

She cocked a hip and placed her hand on it, her eyes narrowing. “I beg to differ.”

“How so? I bought this place. Your family was paid.”

“And I stayed on. Helped you get things started. You’re booming now.”

He thought he was getting the idea of why she was here, and he didn’t like it. She was a money-grubbing gold-digger. Whoever had the biggest wallet… “Like I said, your family was paid fair and square. When you worked for me, you had a salary. You don’t work for me anymore. Game over.”

She laughed bitterly. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer.”

“Is he your latest boyfriend?” Holden said bitterly, his fingers digging into his palms. She was outrageous, moody and quick to flare into a temper tantrum that could rival the crankiest of two year olds. He’d dealt with it when they were together, because there were a lot of good times, too. But looking back, he wondered if he’d made those good times up because he felt bad about buying her family out.

She hissed through her teeth and her eyes slitted in a nasty grimace. “What if he is? Any man is better than you.”

He didn’t stick around to listen to whatever else she had to say. Like he’d told her, they were over, and he wasn’t going to stand there and listen to what other insults she could throw at him. He walked away. Like he should have done so long ago.

He wasn’t going to let Lacy mess with his head any longer. He knew better than
to take her callous words to heart. And lucky for him, Gabrielle’s statement played in his mind:
You aren’t a bad guy, you’re perfect.

Chapter Fifteen

G
abrielle prayed no one could tell how nervous she was. She didn’t want Max to notice a single difference in the way she treated Holden, so she hadn’t bothered to freshen up before dinner, change her clothes or even put on a dollop of lip gloss.

And now she couldn’t stop pressing her lips together wishing she had. After a long day at work, her makeup had worn off, and a glance in the mirror showed that a bit of mascara had made its way beneath her eyes. She tried to wipe it off with her pinkies, but really she needed makeup remover
, as all she ended up doing was smearing the black until she had raccoon eyes.

Why was she worried about how she looked anyway?

There was nothing between her and Holden.

Just a
whole
lot.

She dug her hands in her pants pockets to keep from fidgeting, but
try as she might, Max still gave her an odd look.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Totally fine.”

“You’re acting weird.”

“Really? How?”

“I don’t know. I’m just getting this odd sense from you. Are you sure everything’s okay?”

She took her hands from her pockets and ran her fingers through her hair. “Yeah, totally fine. Just got a lot on my mind. Plans for the restaurant. You know how it is when you take a break from work when you really should be pulling an all-nighter.”

“Hate that,” he said and glanced away, apparently appeased with her answer.

She wanted to sigh in relief that he’d dropped the subject, but knew that would only draw his attention again. Instead she tried to distract herself by looking around the restaurant. The Tortoise was busy tonight. Odd for the middle of the week.

Hmm…
This was actually good. It showed the people in town loved to eat out. Hopefully a lot of them would turn some of their business over to the bistro.

“Hey all,” Holden said, walking up behind them and taking her by surprise.

She jumped a little and then pretended to wipe a non-existent piece of lint from her shirt to cover up the jolt.

“Holden,” Max drawled out. They grabbed hands and then pulled in for a manly hug.

“Glad to be seeing so much of you, man.” Holden tapped him hard on the back. Then nodded to their father and stuck out his hand for a shake. “Mr. Dane, good to see you again. Thanks for letting me in on your family dinner.”

“Nonsense, you’ve always been part of the family,” her dad said.

Then Holden’s eyes were on her. He smiled, and his eyes flashed awareness that she hoped Max didn’t pick up on. Warmth spread through her. Her nipples hardened and her belly did a somersault.

“Hey,” she said, trying for nonchalance, but it totally wasn’t working. By trying not to be obvious with her attraction to him she was being even
more
apparent.

“Long time no see,” he
said, his voice a little softer then when he’d spoken to Max or her father.

“Let’s get a table,” Max said, and before he turned to the hostess, she could see on his face he knew something was up.

But
what
was up? She didn’t even know. She didn’t have a clue. The only thing she was completely certain of was her attraction to Holden. Her need to be around him. Her need to see his smiling face. Her desire to have him glance at her in that sexy way that said he wanted her.

With her brother’s back turned, Holden’s fingers caressed over hers. She bit her lip and glanced up at him. He winked.